Justice At Twilight
by Twilight Warrior 1994
Summary: Au. Basically Twilight, Young Justice style. Rated M for later chapters.
1. I'm Not What I have Done

_**I've noticed that no one's written a Young Justice/Twilight crossover. So I've taken it upon myself. Of course, there are little bits of The Vampire Diaries & the Night World series. Have you read the Night World series? You should. You really should. My usual Searrow so better turn back now Spitfire shippers. Also Supermartian & Chalant.**_

* * *

I've thought about how I'd die before. I've had plenty of reason to lately especially. I doubt I'd ever thought it would be like this. Me, trapped, staring into the face of a predator, and him staring politely back to me, like he was waiting for me to speak or something.

Out of every bad thing I've done in my life, maybe this will make up for it. Dying in place of my sweet mother.

I know this never would have happened if I hadn't gone to Gotham. Still don't regret it though. Not for a minute. I'd been given something greater than I ever thought I'd get in my life. I can't be sorry for it to be ending now.

My predator's still smiling while he walks forward to end me.

* * *

I'm in the back of our car, sitting backwards on my knees, watching Metropolis fade from view. What few possessions we have are loaded in with us. The u-haul we rented is only half full of furniture. It's kinda sad thinking about it really.

We is my mother, Paula Crock, and myself, Artemis. This has been planned for a month, but still, I get little twinges in my chest at watching my life whip past me through the windows. It was no doubt a crappy life but it was still my life.

A month is how long it took Mom to find the biggest city she could get as far from her past as she could. My family could be called unstable at best.

My mom and dad were big time crooks. You ever seen Ocean's Eleven? They were basically like that. They taught me and my older sister Jade to do the same. I can pick a lock in a minute or less. The play ground was my personal gymnastics course. I could load and shoot a gun by the time I was eight. I was pretty good to.

I never even knew what they were up to. Youthful ignorance I guess. Until about six years ago, when an accident on the job got my father killed and my mother paralyzed from the waist down. She was arrested for grand robbery, or larceny, I don't know the difference.

She was jailed, leaving me and Jade alone in foster care, having no living relatives to leave us with. Jade left soon after. I haven't seen or heard from her since. I like to think she's okay, living a life of grandeur and excitement. Wishful thinking. Sometimes I think I see her standing on the street across from me, watching me, no older than nineteen, and then when I look closer, she's gone. More wishful thinking.

I'll admit, I stole. Food from convenience stores mostly. Money from a purse or a wallet if they were assholes. Foster parents aren't the most attentive, loving creatures in the world you know.

"Artemis? Sweetheart, please put on your seat-belt."

I sigh, but do as Mom asks. I can feel her dark eyes on me in the rear-view mirror, and she knows it because she tells me "It'll be fine, dear. Gotham will be a good change for us."

Gotham. It's as gloomy as its name suggests. It's a nice city, sure, full of old architecture and such if your into that kind of thing, with several hundred acres of forest. But it's also almost constantly raining. Like three hundred and fifty-eight days of the year, it's raining, or completely cloudy.

Plus I've already made a change to myself, to convince Mom I was in the spirit of moving. Last week, I gave my long blonde hair a choppy cut at several different lengths and stopped putting it up in a ponytail. I have bangs that fall into my eyes on occasion. Of course now I think I look like an Asian Hilary Duff.

Still, I smile so that Mom can see it in the mirror. After all, in a city like Gotham, what could happen to us?

I had no idea I'd get my answer in a way I never thought possible.

* * *

Three days later, I'm on my way to my first day at Gotham High. Mom got me a car. It was siting outside our new house when we pulled up. It's an old VW Bug, painted a faded red color now, but still. I'm calling her Cherry Bomb.

The house was nice. A two-story Victorian style. I decided not to ask Mom how she paid for it. I know she's getting disability, and that she got a job in Gotham, but most of the money she and Dad stole has never been recovered.

It was raining the whole drive. I knew it would be but still. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the nicest car in the parking lot was an also red Volvo.

My first stop was to the main office to pick up a map of the school and a list of my new classes. A dark cap of hair and a nameplate on the desk identified the woman sitting at it as Selina Kyle-Wayne. She was perfectly polite to me, highlighting shortcuts to my classes on the map and giving me a slip of paper all my teachers had to sign.

I still can't explain why I naturally liked her. Maybe it was the look in her green eyes, saying that she's seen things no else can imagine. I know I sometimes have that look when I remember the last six and half years of my life.

My classes were uneventful. I already knew pretty much everything being taught. I can't complain. It let me completely zone out and listen to my I-pod, hidden in my jacket. I've become a master at the act.

I was stared at the entire time. I can't imagine why. New students have to happen all the time in a city like Gotham. I like to think it was because of my good looks.

My mother is Vietnamese, so my naturally blonde hair against my dark skin and eyes are an interesting contrast. My usual wardrobe consists of well-worn jeans and boots, with a tank top in a dark color, mostly because that's all I can afford, several big chunky rings, bracelets, and necklaces, completed with a leather jacket. Black eyeliner. Always black for me. The word stay is tattooed inside my right wrist in a curly calligraphy. My now choppy haircut probably made me look like some rock star yanked off the stage and dropped into the class room.

Outside of my first period, a curly-haired blonde named herself as Bette Kane and offered to show me around the school, since apparently we had several of the same classes. Right after she did, a brunette blue-eyed boy younger than me ran up, put one arm around me and said, "We'll laugh about this someday", before snapping a picture of us and running off while I blinking the camera flash from my eyes.

"Uh, who was that?" Bette seemed like the kind of girl who'd know everyone around school.

"A freshman. Ignore him."

That was the highlight of my day. Until lunch anyway. That's when I saw them.

* * *

**_Sorry about Artemis' dad if anyone is disappointed about him. It just seemed easiest to kill him. _**

**_Go to my page to get a link to see Artemis' car._**


	2. I'm What I've Overcome

For one thing they weren't staring at me like everybody else in the room. Otherwise I couldn't tell you why noticed them in particular. They were just sitting at a table in a corner, eating lunch like everybody else.

Maybe it's because of how different they were. One was a big muscley black-haired blue-eyed boy who didn't say much, sitting next to a red-haired brown-eyed girl wearing a Gotham High cheerleader uniform who hardly ate because she was talking a mile a minute. The only one not talking at all was a dark-skinned blonde boy, with a dark tattoo of some kind on the back of both hands. **He** caught my attention all right.

"Who are they?" I asked Bette, sitting next to me at the table, pointing with my thumb over my shoulder. She turned in the direction I pointed, then turned back, looking unsurprised at who I was pointing at.

"The two boys are new. Came within weeks of each other. The girl is Megan Morse. She's nice. A little spacey sometimes. She's got a **big** family. Her uncle is a detective on the force with Barbara's dad. Lived here all her life."

"The brooding one is Conner Kent. He's new. Only child. His parents are reporters at Gotham news. He's with Megan. Apparently none of the other girls around here are good enough for him. Like I care."

I turned away to hide my smile from Bette at the sour grapes in her voice and looked back. They were sitting pretty close together, to the point that Megan was almost in his lap. Sometimes Megan's hand would rest on his and he made no effort to pull it away. And then Conner smiled suddenly, like he could hear Bette's words above the clamor.

"The blonde boy is Jackson Hyde. He's new too. Only child too. His mother is an interior decorator. Did my mother's sitting room. It's pretty good too, if you care about that sort of thing. Don't think about talking to him or anything. Apparently no one in school is good enough for him to bother talking to." There was a little hurt in her voice. It made me think that Bette had tried to befriend him, only to be shot down. And true, he was sitting kinda back from the other two, like he preferred not to be there.

I'll admit they made me a little curious, but I had more important things to think about.

Lunch passed. Two more girls, red-haired blue-eyed Barbara Gordon, and Zatanna Zatara who could have been Conner Kent's sister, sat with us. I decided I like them. Zatanna introduced herself by telling me how she's descended from witches. I definitely liked her.

They complemented my hair or my clothes, but they didn't gawk or fawn over me like everyone else had. A red-head boy sat with us too. Wally West. Star of the track team. He hit on everyone of us every five minutes, in between shoveling large quantities of food in his mouth. It was both amusing, annoying, and disgusting.

* * *

My next class was science. Wally, who was apparently at the top of the class, told me to let him know if I needed tutoring, wiggling his eyebrows the whole time. This time it was mostly amusing.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room: Jackson Hyde. He was sitting at the only table that had a free seat. He was clearly gonna be my new neighbor.

For whatever reason, there was a fan blowing frigid air around the room, mostly in Jackson's direction. I walked right into it's path. And from the look on Jackson's face it was like he'd suddenly found himself downwind of a trash heap. He gagged a few times. I could tell. He moved his hand to cover his nose and mouth.

Of course, the teacher, Professor Ray Palmer, had me sit next to him. He didn't have a choice. I admit, I didn't pay a bit of attention in class. Professor Palmer placed petri dishes of something on the table, and Jackson pushed one over to me, holding his breathe all the while.

Jackson leaned as far from me as he could the whole class. I actually sniffed my hair at one point, wondering if I really did smell terrible. All I smelled was my lavender shampoo and soap.

He looked at me only once the whole time, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when he did. A first for me since I was nine. It was a look that said I hate your very existence. I was very familiar with that look.

Now, I'm no Disney princess. If I am then I prefer to be Mulan. If I don't like you, there's probably a very good reason why. You piss me off, odds are you'll end up with a broken nose if I don't like what I've heard after I've confronted you. I've been told my fighting style reminds one of a feral cat. But him...

He jumped up and walked out as fast as possible when the bell rang. He almost seemed to blur as he walked. I was pissed beyond belief. Maybe Bette wasn't so far off about Jackson not being the friendliest man on the planet.

I took my frustrations out in gym. I think it made me a few enemies.

* * *

I walked back to the main office, to turn in the slip of paper with my teacher's signatures to Selena. I don't plan on calling her Mrs. Kyle-Wayne. For one thing it's a mouthful. For another, I can't help but feel a kinship with her.

Jackson was in there when I walked in, talking to Selena. "There must be something. Physics, biology?" He was trying to get his classes changed.

This **can't** be just about me. I hadn't even spoken to the boy. A burst of wind had followed me in when I opened the door. Jackson stiffened up and half turned to look at me over his shoulder. Again, that look saying why in Hell do you have to exist.

"Fine. I will just have to endure it." He walked out, being careful to brush past me.

"How was your day dear?" Selena asked me. "Fine. Just fine."

* * *

I don't really remember the drive home. I was too pissed. I cooked dinner for Mom, told her school had been just fine when she asked. It went like this. "How was school love? Did you make any friends? Were they nice to you?" I took a moment, using the excuse of chewing to think of an answer. If she knew about Jackson she'd go down to the school and confront him herself.

"Their very welcoming."

"Oh God. Tell me all about it."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does dear."

"I have homework." I got up and put my plate in the sink. I didn't actually. All my teachers had given were study sheets, thinking it would bring me up to speed. Still, Mom couldn't follow me up the stairs without help. I know, I'm going to Hell.

* * *

Jackson Hyde didn't come to school the next day. I know because I looked for him all day, planning on demanding to know what his problem was. He didn't come to school for the rest of the week, actually.

I was pretty happy. I didn't want to get into trouble my first week, which passed like this; Zatanna, Barbara, and Bette would demand that I hang around with them, which would involve crawling the mall trying on clothes I could never afford, or just sitting at one of their houses, playing with Bette's extensive, expensive makeup collection and each other's hair.

Is it weird to say I enjoyed every minute of it?

It rained of course. I found I'm starting to get used to it. Maybe even like it.

Monday eventually rolled around. People had stopped staring at me by then. Classes went by like usual. And then came lunch. I was standing in line with Zatanna, zoning out on my I-pod, feeling perfectly happy and then I saw him.

Jackson Hyde, sitting with Megan Morse and Conner Kent at their little table in the corner.

Megan had been perfectly polite to me, saying hello if we walked past each other in the hall way. Conner not so much, nodding to me if Megan spoke to me but I didn't take offense to it. I was pretty much the same way.

I sat with Zatanna as usual, determined not to look or think about Jackson Hyde. Unfortunately, my body didn't get the memo. I turned to look at him without thinking about it, and he was looking right back at me.

This look didn't say God I hate you. This look said... I'm not even sure what it said. It was a mix of curiosity, like how can you do this to me, and frustration, like why can you do this to me. Either way, he didn't look angry.

I still didn't like him though.


	3. He's Irresistible, Up Close & Personal

Walking into science class, I saw him sitting at my (our) table. I'd thought about ditching, but dismissed it immediately after. I'd promised Mom I'd try my best. Running away was not my best. So I sat, determined to treat him as he had treated me. It was working too until he spoke.

"Hello." He had a lovely voice I'll admit. Soft spoken, but you can't help but notice it. I looked at him. He was looking at me, not with fury like last week, but with curiosity, more like he was pondering the mysteries of the universe and I just happened to be one of them. "I apologize for not getting a chance to introduce myself last week. I am Jackson Hyde. You are Artemis?" "Yeah."

Professor Palmer was talking, passing out worksheets and slides of something to each table. "Onion root tip cells. That's what you'll be working on today. So, partner up, separate and label the correct phases of mitosis, and the first team to get it right wins... the golden onion." The rest of the class catcalled and booed as he held up a giant yellow onion. Jackson pushed the microscope to me, asking "Ladies first?"

I peeked through it, so I didn't have to look at him while I asked what had been bothering me ever since I saw him at lunch. Ever since last week actually. "You were gone all week."

"Yes. I had some personal business to take care of." It doesn't explain to me why the look he'd given me said drop dead. It was better than nothing I figured. Mostly.

"Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" I did actually. I pushed the microscope over to him anyway. He glanced at the slide and muttered prophase, writing it in the little blank on the worksheet. "So, are you enjoying the rain?" I made one of those snorting noises in the back of throat. You know what I mean? Like your coughing up a fur ball. He looked at me amused. "What?"

"You're asking me about the weather?"

"Yes, I- I suppose I am."

"Well then, it's not bad. Not what I'm used to."

"Anaphase."

"You mind if I look?" He looked bemused, like he knew I was hoping he'd be wrong. Damn if he wasn't. "If you do not enjoy the rain, why did you come here?"

I think about ignoring his question. It's none of his business. But still, if I keep it simple, there'll be no way he could hurt Mom. "My mom thought we could use a fresh start."

"Tough times back home?"

"Very tough." I leave it at that, hoping he'll get the message. I guess he does because the next thing he says is "This one is metaphase. Would you like to check?"

"I believe you."

* * *

The rest of the class passed with us in silence. We were the first team finished. I pulled colored pencils out of the black hole that is my purse and doodled in my sketch pad and he stared at me from time to time. I didn't look at him but I know he did. I made sure to keep him from glimpsing my sketches when I realized I'd drawn about five pairs of light green eyes. That's what color his eyes were by the way.

And at one point he took off his rain coat and I saw his tattoos. Dark, tribal type snakes or something, ending at the back of his hands and going up his sleeves.

When the bell rang Jackson left as quietly and quickly as he had last week.

* * *

The day went to Hell in the parking lot.

I was walking back to Cherry Bomb, my ear buds in, rocking out to Dead by April. And I felt it. Or rather him. He was looking at me again. Like a fool I lifted my head and met his gaze from his car. He was the owner of the red Volvo apparently.

Anyway, I turn back to Cherry Bomb, and I'm getting ready to climb into her when I hear it. A high-pitched screech that only a car could make, and it was getting louder and louder. I look up and like I'm wearing a giant magnet a car is coming right at me.

And in the next second Jackson was right by my side. Or rather, in front of me, curving his body over mine, arm outstretched, shielding me from the full impact of the car. I know he was there because I looked right into his eyes. The only thing they said was what the Hell did I just do.

* * *

Now I'm in a hospital, a nurse checking my blood pressure, Wally on the bed next to mine, apologizing every few minutes. Mom just wheeled herself in, and is thanking God in Vietnamese. I think about telling that to Wally, who's got this look on his face that clearly says he thinks she putting, I don't know, some kind of voodoo hex on him or something that'll shrink his manhood.

My heads ringing like a church bell but there's nothing else noticeably wrong with me.

When we got out, there was Jackson Hyde, in the hallway arguing with a blonde woman and Conner Kent. I caught the tail end of the conversation. Jackson was saying "What was I supposed to do, let her die?" Conner told him "I don't think you realize the danger you've put us all in."

And then they noticed me and Mom were there. Thankfully, Mom got pulled away, something about insurance forms, I don't know. Jackson had my attention. "I want to talk to you."

Jackson's mother, because that's the only person she could be, walked away, pulling Conner with her. Jackson walked over to my corner, asking "What?" If it wasn't for his voice it probably would have come out harsher than it did. "How did you get over to me so fast?"

He raised an eyebrow, like he had no idea what I was talking about. "Artemis, I was standing right next to you."

"Uh, no, you weren't. You were over by your car. You stopped Wally's car with your hand."

"I believe you suffered a head injury. You are simply confused." I wasn't confused. I **was** getting more and more pissed though. "I know what I saw."

"Can you not just thank me and let it go?"

I felt my face harden into stubbornness. "Thank you." He saw it too. "You will not let this go, will you?"

"No probably not."

"Then I hope you enjoy disappointment." And he walked away.

* * *

That was the first night I dreamed about Jackson Hyde.

* * *

_**I'm just guessing Artemis is good at and enjoys art. Lets face it we don't know much of anything about her hobbies other than the superhero thing. Oh and sorry about the Volvo thing. Clearly I don't know much about cars.**_


	4. Now Inescapable, I Can Hardly Breath

I'll admit it was a wet dream.

I dreamt I woke up and lo and behold, there was Jackson Hyde, standing right next to my bed, just looking at me. I wasn't afraid or anything, like a normal person would be. More like I was expecting him.

I reached for his hand and pulled him against me. Our lips crashed together like, like, like waves on the beach (yes I know how dumb that sounds but it's all I got). We fell back on my bed and just started making out like the teenagers we were. The sheets tangled around us until we threw them to the floor. Hands went places they probably wouldn't in reality. When his went up my nightgown and under my panties I woke up.

I know right? Just when it was getting good. I sat up in bed, sweating and short of breathe. My body was crying for a release that wouldn't come. I thought about finishing the job my self, then decided against it. It would just be a poor substitute for the real thing. The numbers of my alarm clock told me it was just past one in the morning.

The rain was of course coming down. It was music to my ears. I got out of bed, went down the stairs quiet as possible (not hard for the daughter of professional thieves) to the back door, grateful it didn't creak when I opened it and stepped outside.

The rain was more consistent with a shower, and it was warm for March, again for which I was grateful. I was soaked through instantly, my hair and nightgown plastered to my face and body, and layed down on the small lawn just beyond the porch, staring up at the night sky. Well, what there was of it through the constant cloud cover.

What was wrong with me? I wasn't a virgin. I'd had wet dreams before, sure, but about celebrities or my crush of the week, not about an infuriating boy I knew nothing about. Well, nothing except the fact that he can stop speeding cars with his bare hands. And then I felt it. That little sixth sense I've had all my life that tells me when to get the Hell out of dodge. Someone was watching me.

Maybe for most people they would ignore the feeling, but I didn't. That feeling had been right more times than it had been wrong. I got up from the ground and sprinted back to the door. I turned back when I reached it. All that greeted my eyes were the expanse of forest that lined the yard.

* * *

An awkward week passed. Go figure, but near death experiences make a girl very popular. Most of them I didn't bother to learn their names. Among my new followers was Wally, who was beside himself with guilt. He made it a point to offer to hold my books or sit at our table at lunch or offer to help me with my homework. It went from amusing to annoying to pretty fast.

One thing that stuck out in my mind: How every time I had to tell the story, everyone would say how they hadn't seen Jackson next to me until they pulled the car away from us.

Oh, yeah, about Jackson: I didn't exist to him. The day after, I walked into Biology, and he was already seated at our table. I sat down, thinking he would give some sign of my presence. "Hello." He didn't so much as blink in my direction.

That was our last contact. Sort of. He stares at me all the time. I know he does. He is now, at his table across the lunch room. I never looked back. I wasn't the one who started this little game. There was no way in Hell I would be the one to end it. I sat with friends at our table. Barbara spoke as I did. "Hey! Star Beach baby. You in?"

"Should I know what that means?" I asked, looking to Bette for answers. She took pity on me "One of the beaches in Star City. A bunch of us are driving are driving up there this weekend. Would you like to come?"

I did like the beach. Mom would just be happy I had friends to go with. So I said yes. Lunch passed in relative silence after that. At least on my part. Jackson's eyes bored into the back of my head the whole time.

* * *

Professor Palmer was late, so I drew in my sketchbook. I was just shading in my mother's eyes when the chair next to me pulled back. I never looked up. Well, I didn't until he spoke. "That is lovely." I nearly put my pencil through her pupil.

I looked up at him. He was looking at my mother. Well, a sketch of her anyway. "Thanks." He looked away then. It pissed me off more than it should have. "You know your little mood swings are giving me whiplash."

"It is better than we do not have contact with each other."

"What is **that** even supposed to mean?"

"It means, if you were smart, you would do better to stay away from me."

"Well lets say I'm not smart. Would you tell me how you stopped the car?"

"I experienced an adrenaline rush." It **did **explain a few things. I was still pissed though. Lucky for him Professor Palmer walked in. To be perfectly honest, I have no know idea what he said the whole period. All I know is that Jackson stared at me every few minutes. I didn't bother to return the look. When class ended he followed me as I walked to my locker to exchange my books.

Don't ask me why I did what I did then. That's between me and God.

I turned to him and asked "A bunch of us are going up to Star Beach this weekend. Would you like to come with us?"

"Who is 'us'?

"Me, Bette Kane, Wally West, Barbara Gordon, Zatanna Zatara and some of their friends." His handsome face soured. "I do not think it such a good idea." **My** face soured. I turned back to black hole of my locker, hiding my disappointment and hoping he would just leave. He didn't.

"Artemis, we- we should not be friends."

To say I was pissed be an understatement. "You should have figured that out a little sooner. Then you could've let Wally's car crush me and save yourself all this regret." He got that infuriated look I was all to familiar with. "You believe I regret saving you?"

"I can see that you do- I just don't know why."

"You do not know anything."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No." And he turned and walked away.


	5. My God I Need a Hope I Can't Deny

That aforementioned beach trip finally rolled around. Me, Bette, Barbara, Zatanna, Wally and about a dozen of their friends that I didn't know crammed ourselves into various cars and drove up to Star City. The sun was shining, the weather cool but still very warm for early April.

Half of them ran straight for the water as soon as we got onto the beach, stripping off their clothes like they were working a pole and screaming at the top of their lungs along the way, like something out a made for TV summer beach movie. You'd think they'd never seen a beach before. They left the rest of us to set up.

And all through the car ride, all through the set up, all through Wally's offer to rub sun screen on my back and me giving in, I'd thought about Jackson Hyde, much to my disgust. I was disgusted because it wasn't like me. There I was sitting alone under the umbrella on the beach while my friends swam or ran or whatever without a care in the world.

The boys who walked past eyed me in my emerald halter two piece. Some of them were pretty cute too, but I barely noticed them. Which disgusted me even more because I knew I had no right thinking about a boy who was so clearly uninterested in me. I'd never given a boy such thought before. That had usually been reserved for my younger years, when I thought I had a chance with my latest celebrity crush.

When I was older... well if boys noticed me it was usually obviously for one thing. And I wasn't interested to say the least.

"Hey, Tigress!" That was Zatanna, dripping wet and a vision in black, who came running up and threw herself down on the towel next to me. ""Hey, Little Witch." It had become our thing. Last week I punched a guy who grabbed my ass in the mall. Later Zatanna told me the look on my face at the time was positively feral. Somehow and for some reason, she started calling me Tigress. I remembered how she'd told me about being descended from witches and viola.

It made sense at the time.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"Something I really **shouldn't** be thinking about."

"Does it start with a J and end with an N?"

"However did you guess?" She smirked one of those smug knowing smirks. I couldn't hate her for it because it was true. "I heard you invited him to come with us."

"Yeah. He shot me down in seconds."

"Did you tell him who all was coming?" I nodded. She nodded in answer to my nod and said, "Probably because of me." If she wanted my attention, she had it. "Why would it be because of you?" I was ready to dismiss the theory until I remembered... Jackson only refused when I got to Zatanna's name, and I had only just begun the countdown of who was going on the trip.

"You remember what I said about being descended from witches?" Of course I did. It's not exactly something you forget. I nodded. "Well a favorite story of my Nana's was the one about the Old Ones." She paused there, getting a Pepsi from the cooler and taking a sip from it before speaking again, though I suspect it was really for dramatic effect.

"Anyway, she tells it like this; When she was a little girl way back in the Roaring 20's of New York, two men came to her home. They spoke with her mother for hours. They left pretty angry. Years later, she saw them again. They attended one of her magic shows. This time a beautiful blonde woman was with them. They spoke to her after, told her she was much better at magic than her mother. The woman seemed perfectly happy, but the men had an air of sadness."

I was confused as all hell. "**So**?!"

"She told me they were David Hyde, his wife, and their son, Jackson Hyde."

**Then** it clicked into place. Well, kinda. "Probably just his great-grandfather and great-great-grandparents."

"Nana swore that these Hyde's and those Hyde's were one and the same. Nana swore with her dying breath that there is a world living side by side with ours. A world full of witches, vampires, werewolves and such. Living among humans"

"Zatanna, that's impossible."

"Is it? If you've never seen it for yourself then how can you say something can't be possible." She looked dead serious then. It made think against arguing with her. She gave me that look whenever I looked at her, all through swimming in the ocean, cooking on the portable, cleaning up and riding back home to Gotham.

* * *

Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did when I got home.

What I did was go straight for my room, at that time more grateful than ever that my mother was working at the time, locked the door, changed into pajamas and lied belly down on my bed, my laptop in front of me, the blankets pulled over me, like I was eight-years-old and trying to stay up past my bedtime. When my computer was booted up, I went to my preferred search engine and typed in one word.

Vampire.

I was annoyed with how long my search took, though looking back on it I shouldn't have been. There was just so much to look at- from TV shows and movies to underground metal bands and clubs, freaky role-playing games and goth makeup companies.

I managed to come across one site that showed some promise-Vampires A-Z. The screen was simple, white background with black script, rather elegant looking. The homepage welcomed me with two quotes

_Throughout the vast shadowy world of phantoms and demons, there is no figure so feared, dreaded, and abhorred, yet full of fearful fascination, as the vampire, who themselves are neither phantom nor demon, yet is one who partakes in the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and horrible qualities of both- Rev. Montague Summers_

_If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of the vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, priests, and magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires? Rousseau_

The rest of the site was an alphabetized list of all of the different myths about vampires from all over the world. Most of which I'd never heard of.

Like the _Danag_, a vampire from the Philippines who was supposed to responsible for planting taro on the islands long long ago then went bad when a woman cut her hand and a _Danag_ licked her wound and found he liked the taste so much that he drained her body of blood completely.

I was careful not to speed read like normal, looking for anything that sounded familiar, let alone possible. Go figure, but most vampire myths focused on beautiful women as demons and children as their victims. They also seemed to be a way to explain the high mortality rates for young children and gave men and women an excuse for infidelity.

Most of the stories involved bodiless spirits and warned against improper burials. Maybe less than half of what I found sounded like anything I'd ever heard, and only a fair few actually mentioned drinking blood.

Three entries really caught my attention: the Romanian _Varacolaci_, a powerful undead being who could appear as a beautiful, pail-skinned human. The Slovakian _Nelapsi_, a creature so strong and fast that it could massacre an entire village in a mere hour. And the _Stregoni benefici_. The last one had one short sentence.

_Stregoni benefici- An Italian vampire, said to be on the side of goodness and a mortal enemy to all evil vampires._

That one made me feel a little better. That even among the undead there was a claim to the existence of good vampires. Still, there wasn't much that went with Zatanna's story or my own observations. I'd made a little catalogue in my head and I'd read and had carefully compared it to all the myths. Strength, beauty, and speed sure, but Jackson was as far from pale skinned as I was.

Not to mention my other problem, which had been backed up by what I'd read that day. Vampires couldn't go outside in the day.

The minute that thought had gone through my mind I felt stupid. I switched off my laptop, writing down the name and address of a book shop that would offer me more knowledge at the last second, and threw back the covers, needing to get out of that house. Except there wasn't anywhere I truly wanted to go to.

So, still in ragged pajama bottoms and a tank top, my hair in a messy braid, barefoot and bra-less, I walked out my back door into the mist and kept on walking, deep into the forest lining our yard, to the point that I couldn't see the house anymore when I finally stopped.

There it was easier to believe the fantasies that had embarrassed me in my home. Those woods hadn't changed a hundred years before me, and they probably wouldn't change a hundred years after I was gone. All those myths and legends of a hundred different worlds seemed more likely in that green haze than they had in my bright bedroom.

Was it possible Zatanna's stories about the Hyde's were true? It shouldn't have been. But there wasn't any other explanation. I'd went over my little catalogue a second time. Inhuman speed and strength, check. Good looks... definitely.

Was it possible? Jackson was something, that much I knew. Something that went beyond normal. Be it Zatanna's Old Ones or my own stupid theories, Jackson wasn't human.

There had only seemed to be one of two options. Treat Jackson like as much of a pariah as he had treated me until I graduated from high school. That option made a near physical pain ricochet through my chest, which had made no sense. He hadn't ever tried to hurt. If anything he'd prevented me from getting hurt.

Maybe my choice wouldn't make sense to you. I'll admit it hadn't to me.

* * *

_**Go to my page to get a link to Artemis & Zatanna's swim suits.**_

_**I am suffering from internet withdrawal. Leave me plenty of reviews to brighten my day the next chance I can get on a computer.**_


	6. I've Found Some Kind of Fairytale

I woke up to sunshine the next morning. The real thing too, not the pale, watery gray stuff that sometimes peaks through a break in the cloud cover. For a minute I thought it was the universe saying I'd made the right choice.

Just the warm yellow light peeking through my window exhilarated me. I wore the only skirt I had, a short black number over sheer black tights. A pale turquoise tank over a white one, my black hooded jacket (it felt like tempting fate to go without it) and tall black wedge boots completed my ensemble. I even switched my usual black eyeliner for a sparkly silver one.

I was practically skipping down the stairs. Mom smiled when she saw me. "Beautiful day" she said.

I drove to school so far under the speed limit that old people driving past gave me dirty looks. There were only a few other kids already there. Mostly the kids who made that kind of thing a point. I was in such a hurry to get out and soak up the sun I hadn't paid any attention to the time.

I claimed a bench in the school courtyard for myself, reveling in my near solitude. I spent my time doodling. I remember hoping that today would be the day the art teacher would let us start sculpting.

Maybe you're wondering why I like art so much. I guess it's because of how I was raised.

I can fake it with the best of them. I was taught to study my target intently, to the point that I know them just as well if not better than they know themselves. Now I apply that to my school work. And since my memory is near photographic, it's not that hard. I'm a crack shot. I can pick a lock with a bobby pin in a minute or less. I learned several languages by age seven.

Art cannot be faked. It takes real talent. No question about it.

By the by, at some point I'd started drawing Jackson Hyde. A very au natural Jackson Hyde.

"Artemis!" I clutched my drawing pad to my chest. Stupid of me, but I hadn't noticed that the other kids were slowly starting to arrive and enjoy the sun themselves. I was lucky no one noticed me and my sketch. The person who'd called out to me was Wally. He was jogging over.

I could see Bette and Zatanna over his shoulder. Barbara was talking to that little freshman. If I didn't mention before his name is Dick Grayson. Selena's his stepmother. Sweet kid but creepy.

"Wow. You've got a kinda silvery blonde in your hair." It's true. I got it from years of outdoor sports. Surfing, biking. Anything that got me out of the foster parents houses. Wally gripped a strand that was fluttering in the wind between two fingers and held it right up to his eyes. Anyone else and I would've popped them. I didn't flinch when he tucked it behind my ear.

He leaned back on the bench next to me. I flipped the sketch pad close and stuffed it in my bag. "I've got something I'd like to ask you." He had a funny look on his face, like he was trying to be serious, but his usual casual and nonchalant attitude was saying "yeah don't think so". "Prom is coming up soon. Would you like to go? With me?"

Prom. If someone like me is at a prom, you'd probably expect a tub of pigs blood to fall from the ceiling at any moment. Still, my promise to my mother rang through my head. She'd probably be thrilled that I got asked to prom. Even happier if I actually went. Still, prom just wasn't me.

"I'm sorry, Wally, but I just don't care to go to prom." He didn't look very upset. "It's got nothing to do with you. At all."

"It's okay." We sat out there until the bell rang.

Jackson Hyde wasn't in school. Neither were Conner Kent or Megan Morse. I know because I looked for him for most of the morning. When I didn't see him I looked for them. As much of a loner as he seemed to be they were obviously closest to him. And I didn't see either of them.

At lunch Bette and Barbara were talking all about prom. They'd both been asked. Zatanna was just going for the Hell of it. They spent our entire lunch period making plans to go dress shopping. When they asked me if I wanted to go, I said sure.

God bless Zatanna, when she saw me looking over at they're table at lunch, she didn't call me out. She didn't say anything to the others. She did wait until we were walking out to tell me "Their not here. When we actually see the sun their not in school. Their parents get them out for hiking and camping and that stuff."

"How?" It didn't make sense to me. "I don't know."

It kinda killed my good mood. I found I was actually looking forward to shopping.

* * *

We crawled around the various malls in Gotham for hours. Bette hit all the high-end shops. You know, the kind that have prices in the hundreds up. Barbara and Zatanna stuck to the cheaper places, though Zatanna could afford better, though not as much as Bette.

They all found a nice dress at least. Bette got a blinged-out red ball gown that probably cost more than my house. Furniture and all. Barbara and Zatanna found nice ones that wouldn't put their father's into debt, in white and black each. We left the dress shops to get jewelry and shoes.

I broke off from them then, telling them I'd meet them at the restaurant we'd have dinner at later. I knew I wasn't much company to them and felt like crap for it.

I wondered all around, in and out of various shops. I dropped plenty of coin at an art supply shop. At some point I left the mall and walked the sidewalks. I couldn't tell you when. Just that I walked them long after it got dark.

That was my first mistake.

Finally I'd looked up and found myself totally lost. No longer was I in the brightly colored plaza area full of expensive clothing shops and restaurants but surrounded by graffitied buildings and trash. I could make out syringes and crack pipes through the darkness and dirt. A mangy emaciated dog walked past, sniffing through the garbage.

There was only one apartment building that I could see. All the windows were drawn with broken blinds, the ones that weren't broken themselves.

I'd turned and walked back. I wasn't worried, not really. I'd lived in neighborhoods a lot like this before. I didn't call the girls or my mom. I just walked, hoping that I'd find my way out.

That was my second mistake.

I'd walked past a group of boys. And I mean boys. Their were five of them, only a few years older than me, leaning up against the side of a building. I didn't give them much thought. But apparently they gave me some thought because I didn't get more than a foot or two ahead of them before they started walking.

I could hear them walking behind me. They were being way to quiet. They had my attention then. A car drove past. I thought about jumping in front of it but restrained myself.

That was my third mistake.

I turned the corner and lo and behold, there was no one. The street was lined with blank concrete walls. I could see people further down. They were just too far away. Because between me and them were two more boys, looking excited at me.

I was being stupid. A few months out of the ghetto and I'd forgotten everything I knew. It pissed me off. It was obvious what they wanted. Well if they wanted it they would have to get it over my dead body.

The two in front walked closer to me, the ones behind doing the same. I stood still. They probably thought in fear. I know it was the opposite.

And then headlights flew around the corner. A red car, one that nearly slammed into the oldest of the group. It made them break away from me. And the driver stepped out.

* * *

_**I'm back with a vengeance!**_

_**Go to my page to get links to the dresses.**_


	7. Tell Me Why

"Get in the car." Jackson Hyde's voice was smooth soft velvet covering sharp and shiny barbed wire. I did as he asked. No questions. I sat in the passenger seat, watching while he approached the boys. I heard one of them say "That was a very, dangerous, maneuver..." cutting off.

I don't know what he did or said. I didn't hear anything and I only saw his back. But the boys backed off from him with scared looks on their faces. He walked back to the car and climbed in. He drove forward for a second. It was totally unnecessary, it just made the boys jump back and fall over themselves in fear and run.

He backed out of there like a bat out of Hell. When we rejoined the street he weaved between the smallest spaces between the other cars, driving like he thought he was Speed Racer. "I should go back there and rip their heads off." Velvet covered barbed wire again. "No you shouldn't."

"You don't know the vile, repulsive things they wanted to do."

"And you do?" It was a perfectly fair question after all. And yet he got a look on his face like he was thinking _you idiot_ and said "It is not hard to guess." It rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it wasn't hard to guess if you had actually been there the whole time like I was instead of showing up five seconds ago like he had.

"Would you speak of something else? Distract me so I will not turn around." His voice was strained, like that was a very real possibility. And while I felt no love for those boys, if my theories were right about Jackson then he could cause them some severe damage. So I rooted around in my mind for a minute and said the first thing that came to mind.

"You should put your seat belt on." He laughed a strained sorta laugh, like he was going _Really?_ "Why don't you put your seat belt on?" I realized then that I hadn't even thought of putting on my seat belt and so I was braced against the door frame. He got quiet then. We drove until we passed the sign telling us that we were leaving the Gotham City limits.

He pulled off to the side of the road then and parked. He was breathing funny. Really deeply and slowly. His hands still gripped the steering wheel. He just stared ahead. "Are you okay?"

Yeah I know. Aside from the cars coming to and from Gotham, I was alone, in the dark, in an enclosed space with what might be a very dangerous, and right then very very angry killing machine that had a fondness for human blood. Why wasn't I running like Hell screaming into the night?

If you figure out the answer let me know.

"Not really." He let go of the wheel but continued staring ahead. His posture was rigid. I was starting to get antsy.

Hey, never said I was a patient girl.

God knows why but the clock on his radio caught my attention. It said 9:00 in blinking blue numbers. "My mom will be worried. I told her I'd be home by now." Jackson's sudden movement after sitting stone still grabbed my attention.

He pulled a cell phone from his coat pocket and handed it to me. "Call her." He said. I started dialing, and then realized she wouldn't recognize the number. It wouldn't have made her feel any better. So I handed it back to him and reached for mine instead. I had a missed call from Zatanna. I had been that wrapped up in the world of my thoughts. She answered on the first ring.

"Artemis?" Her voice was a mix of happiness and fury. It usually was when it came to me. "Hey Mom."

"Where are you?"

"I'm with the girls. I'm sorry, we just got carried away, and I lost track of the time. But Bette's taking us all to dinner. I'll be home soon I promise." She was mollified for the moment. I heard it when she'd spoken again. "Alright. But come home** immediately** after. I love you."

"I love you too." I hung up, looking back to Jackson to see him staring back at me. He looked away and started the car, u-turning us back to Gotham. We didn't speak until he pulled up in front of this little diner that looked like it had once been a boxcar on a train. "What are you doing?"

He looked evenly at me, told me "I am taking you to dinner."

"Thanks but it's not necessary."

"Of course it is. You do need to eat. Besides if I took you directly home, your mother would be suspicious." He had a point. It was the only reason I got of the car and followed him inside. It was mostly empty, with only a few people who were probably loyal regulars sitting at the counter. Jackson still choose a booth as far back as he could find.

Our waitress, an unnaturally blonde twenty-something with too much makeup and too little skirt, was very friendly. To Jackson. Little tramp only didn't even glance at me while she took our drink orders. Jackson looked at me all the while. It grated my already grated nerves.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "I am merely waiting for you to go into shock." Again, grated my nerves. "Hate to send you into shock but that was probably the least trouble I've yet to see in my life." He raised both eyebrows. The tramp decided to make her reappearance then, setting Jackson's drink down so delicately it was like she thought she was performing brain surgery.

She nearly threw mine off the table.

"Ready to order?" She smiled as widely as possible to Jackson. Is it wrong to say I considered stabbing her with a fork? "Artemis?" **Then** she turned to look at me. I picked the first thing I saw on the menu. "Club sandwich."

"Nothing for myself." Of course not. She collected our menus and left without that smile. "Your really not going to eat anything?" This was the most alone we'd been in the few weeks I'd been in Gotham. I was either getting some answers out of Jackson or getting Jackson out of my life.

"No. I am on a... special diet." He smiled at that, like it was a little in joke. "How'd you know where I was?" It was a fair question. "I did not."

Grated. My. Nerves.

I grabbed my purse and coat and started getting out of the booth. Jackson looked surprised and reached out to grab my wrist as I walked past him. "Please. Do not leave I..." He trailed off. But the look in his eyes said if I had left he would have done something he would've regretted. That's the only reason I sat back down. "Were you following me?"

"I feel very... protective of you." The waitress came back then. She just set the plate down and left. "I was keeping a safe distance, and then I learned what those... low lives were planning for you."

"You **learned** what they were planning? How."

"Let me say simply I have a friend. A very special friend. Special in that she can predict the future. Along with other abilities." I was speechless. On the outside. On the inside I was popping with questions, trying to figure out which would be the right one to ask. I picked the one that seemed most harmless. "And how could she have this ability exactly? Because she's not human?"

It took him a few minutes to answer. "Not entirely."


	8. What Madness Taking Over My Heart

He didn't look at or speak to me driving me home. Not once. I know he didn't because** I** looked at **him** all the while. I don't know I guess I thought if I looked away he'd grow fangs and a black cape with a red lining and a really high collar and a crapload of other clichés.

He hadn't done it out loud, but he had confirmed every thing that I was afraid of. He was a vampire. A freaking vampire. Sure I liked to believe in the possibility of the supernatural, but to actually have it slapped in my face was something else all that shouldn't have possibly existed was sitting mere inches away from me. It was my worst nightmare come true.

Now you may be asking yourself why right about now. Falling in love (and I'm not saying that I had fallen in love with Jackson Hyde, but still) with a vampire is most girls fantasy. According to all the books written about it anyway. So why wasn't I jumping for joy?

Because I wanted normal. Regular. For the last six years my life had been anything but. Fact is it had been a living Hell. What sick twisted force of nature would cause me to fall in love (and again, not saying that I had) with an undead creature of the night? I should have been calling the National Inquirer or the government. And yet...

He hadn't done anything to hurt me. Hell he'd done everything possible to keep me from being hurt. And, well, I didn't **want** to stay away from him.

It only took a few minutes before he pulled up in front of my house. When I got out of the car, Jackson did the same, walking me to my front door. It wasn't a bad neighborhood or anything, far from it actually, so I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or annoyed. My mom opened the door, showing obvious surprise at Jackson.

"Hello Mrs. Crock. I am Jackson Hyde. I know your daughter from school."

"Hello." And then she looked at me like "You better still be a virgin." I wasn't but trust me, Jackson had had absolutely nothing to do with it.

"I apologize for keeping Artemis out so late. We met while she was at dinner with her friends and started to talk."

"Thank you. It's fine." I looked at her funny. It was obviously not fine with her but she wasn't about to talk about it in front of the guy she was afraid would end up being the father of her first (probably first. Neither of us had talked to Jade in years.) grandchild.

"I will see you tomorrow Artemis." He nodded to me and Mom before walking back to his car. Mom nearly yanked my arm from it's socket pulling me through the front door.

"So." She looked at me expectantly, her arms folded across her chest. "Jackson Hyde brought you home."

"Relax Mom. Your not a grandmother. It happened exactly like he said."

"It better have. Go to bed. It's late."

It was 9:30. She just wanted to know where I was. I didn't mind it. Much. One shower and tooth brushing later I was in my room under my sheets, a copy of Pride and Prejudice in one hand, my IPod in the other, waiting until it was actually late enough to go to sleep. Although I doubted I would sleep. Ever again. My mind kept running over the earlier events.

Jackson Hyde was a vampire. I know I'd already said it but still. He was a vampire. And if I was right, his friends Conner Kent and Megan Morse and his parents were to. And it was wrong. So wrong that I both wanted yet didn't want anything to do with him. He was a vampire. I should have stopped feeling anything even remotely caring for him the minute he'd confirmed it.

Of course I'd never done what I should have.

For the record I never slept that night. I just laid in bed staring up at the ceiling until I had to get out of bed for school.

* * *

I was in a fog that morning. I know it because I threw on a Hello Kitty sweatshirt and secondhand Ugg knockoffs without a second thought. No makeup so the world saw the deep shadows under my eyes. My hair was just there. I looked like the after picture for some kind of school special about drinking and partying all night.

I wouldn't have minded it if there had actually been some kind of party.

I think Mom talked to me over breakfast. I think. Honestly I think that a bomb could have gone off in that kitchen and I wouldn't have noticed it.

I thought about skipping school. About just walking out of that house. Out of that city. Out of that state. Right then I wanted to be anywhere but there. The thought also pained me considerably.

I'm probably pissing you off right now. I bet if you had been there you would have slapped me and screamed "Make up your mind!" And I would have let you. I would have happily let you.

I pulled my hood over my head when I walked out the door. I'd figured I would take the bus to school that morning. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. My extremely confused thoughts. Except lo and behold when I turned around on the porch, there he was. Jackson Hyde and his shiny red Volvo. He was standing on the passenger's side, holding the door open.

"It occurred to me that you would like to continue our conversation from last night." _What conversation?_ I thought. I also thought about refusing. And then realized that he could easily force into the car if he wanted to. I also saw his double-meaning.

This was a test. If I refused, then we would have nothing more to say to each other. But if I said yes...

"Fine." I got in.

Like I said, I never did what I should have.

* * *

_**Look on my page to see Artemis' sweatshirt and boots.**_


	9. Take Me Away Upon a Plateau

Jackson hadn't even pulled out of my driveway before I said "When I ask something you have to be completely honest with me. I can tell if someone lies to me and if I think you are, I'm leaving and never looking back. Deal?" I totally could for the record. Tell if someone lied to me. A requirement for the con artist's job.

He seemed to mull (that's right mull. Think seemed to fit him about as well as Paris Hilton having a real job would) over it before saying "Fair enough."

"And we're not going to school today."

He looked at me then, one eyebrow raised. "We are not?" he asked.

"No." Like Hell we were. The things I had to know weren't the kinds of things that could be asked in public. FYI but teenagers are some of the nosiest beings in the universe. I could only imagine the reaction if someone overheard us.

"Is there somewhere else you would prefer to speak?"

"Somewhere where no one can overhear. Where we have no chance of being interrupted. You know anywhere like that?" He mulled over that too before saying "I believe so."

* * *

We'd driven past the school before I asked my first question. The one that bothered me most. I was turned sideways in my seat, ready to dissect every facial twitch he made. "Is it just..." I couldn't spit out.

Luckily Jackson did it for me. "Vampires?" I nodded. "... or are there other... beings? Like, witches?"

He sighed deeply through his nose, like he was trying to keep his cool. The office buildings and high-end stores of Gotham flew by the windows before he answered. "Witches. Werewolves. Those are the only other races that are evident to us."

"How many of you are there?" I wasn't sure I wanted an answer. He smiled a half-smile before saying "The human race has nothing to fear. Even if we all gathered in one setting at the same time, we would only be a few thousand."

We drove past the neighborhood full of the ridiculous mansions. The next question didn't bother me as much as the first, but it probably should have. "Do you have to kill to get what you need?"

I confused him for a minute. His brow furrowed, only lifting when it hit him. "You mean blood?" I nodded. Little half-smile again. "No. Even if I drank from humans I would not need to kill them. No vampire truly **needs** to kill. Some humans who remember the experience have even called it pleasant."

I didn't see the appeal, but, hey, I'd never been bitten. And then I fully heard what he'd said.

"You're saying you don't drink... blood?"

"Not from humans."

**My** brow furrowed then. "Where do you get it from then?"

"Animals. It is not as... pleasant as human blood. I imagine it is similar to a human eating only tofu. It sustains us but.. we are never truly satisfied."

"You keep using us and we. Who is us? Your parents? Your friends?" The mansions were getting fewer and farther in between, with plenty of green to fill the void. "Yes. My parents as well as Conner and M'gann. There are a few others in the this city. **Few**." The name M'gann threw me, but I didn't say anything. There was time for that later.

Now there was nothing but trees. And the rain had started. Not even rain really, more like mist, one worthy of an Oscar for best special effects or whatever it is. Either way it got harder to see the foliage through it.

"How did you become what you are now? Do you know?" Jackson didn't answer. Not right away at least. He waited until he'd parked on the last stretch of pavement, at the end of which was a foot trail that was obviously popular. He didn't look at me when he spoke.

"If you mean how vampires as a species came to exist.. No. I do not. No one does. Neither do the witches or the werewolves know for themselves. Evolution. Magic. We have simply existed for as long as the humans have. Perhaps even longer."

Jackson opened his door and stepped out into the cold wet. I followed, reluctantly. What else was there for me to do? "Jackson? Where are we going?" It was a fair question. It was an irrational thought but for all I knew he'd brought me there to silence me.

He smiled like he sensed my worry. "You wished for us to speak privately did you not?" He held out his arms, like he was waiting for me to run into them or something. When I gave him a look that clearly said "What am I supposed to do now?", he sighed and picked me up bridal style. For the record, he was hard.

His skin was hard, you pervert. It wasn't rock-like but it was definitely tougher than human skin.

And then we were flying.

That's what it seemed like anyway. It took me a minute to realize that we weren't in fact flying, merely running. Well, Jackson was running anyway. I buried my face in his neck and was holding on to him for dear life.

It was only a minute and then we standing in this clearing. It was really beautiful, wildflowers and this little stream running through it. If the sun had been out it would have like something that would be described in a cheap, tawdry romance novel set in the 1700s. Under normal circumstances I would be chomping at the bit to sketch it. Jackson set me on my feet.

And I immediately doubled over, my hands on my knees to keep myself from outright falling over, my vision blurry and my stomach twisting. So sue me. You try standing in a wind tunnel and see how you feel.

I felt his hands, one hand on my hip to help keep me upright, the other rubbing soothing circles on my back until my vision cleared and my stomach caught up to me. When I lifted my head, he brushed the tangled curtain that was my hair out of my face so I could look at him.

"I apologize. I should have realized that would not have a good effect on you."

"It's fine. Now, about you." I walked a little ways ahead and sat down, motioning beside me for him to do the same. He did, sitting across from me to better judge my reaction. "What would you like to know first?"

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Yeah, then I was the queen of England. "And how long have you been sixteen?"

He came a kind of sad smile before saying "A while." He sighed.

"Vampire physiology is not what the general public believes it to be. They are correct about the great strength and speed. You are either born a vampire or are made into one by dying with vampire blood in your system. Made vampires cannot birth children, and do not age after their transition. Born vampires, as the name implies, can produce children, age at the same rate as humans and are able to **choose** when they stop aging. We can restart the aging process, but the years immediately catch up to us. Most of all, we live."

His jacket was unzipped, and he lifted my hand from my lap to his chest. I felt it. The bump bump that is a heartbeat. I looked to his face and smiled, showing him I felt it. "The sun is uncomfortable, but it does not incinerate us upon contact."

"If that's true then why weren't you in school yesterday?"

"It is uncomfortable like a human wearing winter clothing that cannot be removed in the middle of Summer. It makes us rather... irritable. And when we are irritable we can make...mistakes."

"My father was born in Ethiopia around the 1600s. We cannot truly estimate when. He chose to stop aging when he was about thirty. And for thousands of years he traveled the world, meeting other vampires and witches and werewolves, but never truly forming any emotional ties with any of them. In 1908, he traveled back to Greece. He had always had a fondness for it. This trip was different. On this trip he met my mother. A witch, named Sha'lain'a."

"Sha'lain'a. Yeah that's definitely a hint she's not human."

He gave me an actual smile. "To you it seems unusual, but the name is only used in private. Witches believe in giving a child two names. A false name to protect them from evil spirits who would do them harm, and a true name used only around those trusted most. Simply put, my parents soon married. I was born in 1912."

"My friend Zatanna told me a story told to her by her grandmother. She said that the Hyde men visited her mother. And that she saw them again, years later, and they had a woman with them."

That sad look was back. "It is true. In 1926, my mother became ill. Now we recognize it to have been cancer. Specifically pancreatic cancer. And you know that there is no cure for cancer now, but it was even worse then because most doctors did recognize the symptoms until it was too late. By the time they realized it was not simply a stomach ache, we were essentially told to make her final days as comfortable as possible."

"We spent months trying to find alternatives. We did not wish to subject the brilliant light that was my Mother to a life that necessitated darkness and solitude. We went to Arianna Zatara hoping there would be a magical cure. Magic does many great things. But that was not one of them. My father and I..." Jackson trailed off, licking his lips, like he was trying to figure out the best way to say it. "We did not take it very well."

Anger tinged the sadness then, and I could relate. If I couldn't move heaven to help my mother, I would certainly raise some Hell.

"So we started giving her small amounts of blood. Vampire blood has phenomenal healing capabilities. Life and death injuries healed like they never existed. But long-term diseases cannot be healed. Even by vampire blood. Finally, my mother succumbed to her illness. Almost immediately after she awoke, in transition."

He stopped then. I didn't know if he was doing it for dramatic pause or to let me gather my thoughts. "There's nothing that can hurt you?" It was a weird question sure but, hey, it's not every day you talk to a vampire.

Actual smile again. "Hollywood did get something right." He picked up a stick that was just lying on the ground next to him. Then he pulled the pocketknife I carry in my boot out. He took off his jacket. He quickly drew the blade of his knife across the inside of his right forearm, doing the same to his left with the stick.

The cut from the knife healed in seconds. I literally blinked and then it wasn't there. But the cut he'd made with the stick acted like a regular cut. It bled. "A stick. Is that all?" He laughed. It was a surprised laugh, like he hadn't expected he would be laughing. "It's getting close enough to a vampire that's the problem. I assume you remember our trip here earlier."

It would dementia to make me forget it.

* * *

_**I think I've overused the words sigh, sad, smile and kind of. Just a little.**_


	10. Far Far Away From Fears and Shadows

"Why did you leave?" It was the question that had been bothering me the most. He looked uncomfortable when he said "Your scent is very... potent. To me. So much more so than any other human I have ever met. I thought it would be in both our best interests if I left before I did something that would not be... beneficial to either of us. "

I was afraid but I tried not to let it show. "Anything I can do about it?" He smiled at me then. "No. There is nothing **you** need to do. I simply need to adjust." He took his hand to the locks of hair that had fallen over my shoulder, gently running his fingers through the tangles, breathing deeply all the while.

Is it weird that I didn't find it creepy like I normally would?

"What about yourself?" He was looking at me with curiosity in his eyes, still touching my hair. I didn't feel like I deserved it. What happened in my life isn't the kind of stuff you willingly tell someone else, not without a gun being held to your head.

I layed back on the damp grass with my hands behind my head, pushing my hair out from under me, using the minute it took to concoct a believable story. "It's not as interesting as your story, trust me. For nine years I had two parents and a sister. And then my dad died. And my sister ran away. And now it's just me and Mom. Nothing interesting."

It was the truth. The Cliffs Notes version of the truth anyway.

I only looked at him when I finished speaking, knowing that he wouldn't be able to read anything from my face or tone. His face didn't give anything away but something in his eyes told me that he didn't believe me. He just wasn't going to say anything.

He pulled my right hand from my head, pushed the sleeve of my sweatshirt up to expose my tattoo. He touched it gently, practically with devotion. The touch sent tingles through me. "And this?"

**This** as he put it was part of the untellable story. So I changed the subject. "Tell me about yours I'll tell you about mine." His were like tribal snakes or something, winding up his arms and disappearing into his shirt.

Jackson leaned back on his elbows. "They are a part of my witch heritage. Every witch develops them when they begin their studies. Usually they are specific to the witch themselves. Or else their studies."

"Snakes?"

He grinned. "Not snakes. Eels. Witch culture revolves around the elements. Fire, earth, spirit, air and water. A witch naturally leans towards one of these. Water especially for my family. Eventually they fade away, only becoming visible when using magic." He looked at me expectantly.

"Three months ago I staggered into a tattoo shop late one night after a party where I'd had one too many jello shots. It was in a not-so-great part of town, I had a fake I.D. that said I was eighteen and I was dressed to look the part. This was one of those examples they have up on the wall. Luckily I picked this. I remember there being a dead parrot and a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle up there to. Mom wasn't happy about it but since it's not something totally tacky and we can't afford a removal it's here to stay."

That aforementioned look again.

"I know when someone is lying to me as well, you realize. But it matters that much to you I will not push it."

I could tell that this still wasn't finished to him though. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see an accusatory stare.

I don't know if he did or not. I do know that his fingers found their way back to my hair, combing gently through the tangled mess until the motion put me to sleep.

* * *

A hand was shaking my shoulder as gently as possible. I couldn't even call it shaking. More like if I didn't know better I'd say I'd had the hiccups. Opening my eyes I saw Jackson's face, hovering over mine. I smiled a small smile, like I was waiting to make sure what had happened before hadn't been a dream.

He smiled back. I sat up and looked around, my now tangle-free hair falling into my face. "Uh... What time is it?" The shadows were longer than before. The overcast sky was darker, with more blue added to the gray. "It is five o'clock." I shoved my left sleeve back, looking at the face of my watch that was almost hidden beneath several wire bead bracelets. He was right. We'd been out there for almost ten hours.

It had taken us about an hour to drive out there. My Mom would get off at seven. It would take her about twenty minutes to get home. And if I wasn't there, attempting to start dinner by then, she'd send the National Guard after me. And that's if she wasn't already there, the school having called her to ask why I hadn't been in class that day.

I'm guessing the panic I'd felt was showing on my face because Jackson stood up and stretched out his hands to me. "I take it you must return home." It wasn't question. I took his hands, and he pulled me to my feet. "You take it right."

"Would you prefer to get back to the car your way or my way?"

Jackson's way would take all of a minute. My way would take half and hour or so. And then there was the drive back, so... "Your way it is."

He turned around and bent his knees slightly. Under normal circumstances I would have stopped for a hearty snicker at the sight. Instead I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his neck. He put his hands back so that they were under my knees, holding me to him.

And then we were gone. I closed my eyes and buried my face into his back. I figured (hoped. prayed) that it would make the ride a little easier.

It didn't.

* * *

"I assume I would not be a welcome guest to dinner." We were parked outside of my house, me gathering up my stuff to step out the car. I'd just thanked him for the ride. "It's not that Mom wouldn't mind. But she would ask you a lot of questions. I don't know what we'd tell her."

Hey, that was part of it any way.

He shook his head in understanding. I was half out of the passenger door when Jackson reached for my hand. "Artemis?" I turned back to look at him properly. "Among the witches I am known as Kaldur'ahm. But to my loved ones I am simply Kaldur."

I was smiling when I walked through the door. I was smiling when I cooked dinner. I'm pretty sure I was smiling in my sleep.

* * *

_**It's 12 a.m. I've just finished watching Anaconda. And all three of its sequels. And the last 2 really really suck. And I have to get up at 6 for school.**_

_**Damn you insomnia!**_

_**This might be the thing that kills me. **_

_**Review me!**_


	11. Daughters of Darkness, Sisters Insane

Kaldur'ahm made my bedroom his little home away from home.

This is how it started. The night after our little... talk, I was in a pair of old leggings and a tank, on my computer, at my desk, finishing up a delightful report on Lord of the Flies, ear buds in, jamming out. The next thing I knew, someone's pulling my wet hair back from around my face, before a very familiar arm was placed on either side of me. "This is a very.. uplifting presentation."

I didn't jump out of my seat, though I know he heard my heart beat speed up just a little. I tilted my head back and met his chest, and his eyes looking down at me. The warmth in them made me look back to the screen. "It's about kids stranded on an island who end up giving in to their darkest natures and off each other. This surprises you?"

He looked thoughtful for a minute and then shrugged. "Not really. But of course William Golding had my help writing it." I looked back to him then, to see his mouth curling up at the corners, though he was obviously trying to prevent it. "You're such a liar." I jabbed my elbow back into his stomach, pushing my chair back so I could get up and grab my freshly printed report to put into my school bag. "How did you get in here?"

"The window." I turned back to look at him, eyebrows. He looked unapologetic as he said "I find it pleasant to watch you sleep." My eyebrows lowered. "And you've done that for... how long?" Still unapologetic he answered "A while."

"That's creepy you know." Still unapologetic. It was almost midnight. There wasn't much I could do about him being there. So I said "Close the window when you leave.", climbing under my bed covers. Kaldur walked over and settled next to me on the bed. I knew he was looking at me so I rolled onto my side opposite from him.

And like before, he ran his fingers from my roots to the tip of my hair and back through. I think, through the haze of exhaustion, I felt his lips on my cheek. Once. That's it.

Hey, having a vampire climb in through a window might have been a fantasy come to life for some of you, but my mother was right downstairs from us. Not to mention Kaldur had been born in the 1900's, where only the "cads" took advantage of young unmarried maids like myself.

Every night after that, he climbed in through my window. His fingers running through my hair sent me to sleep. And he would stay until morning, climbing out before Mom would call for me for breakfast. And then he'd show up not long afterwards, freshly showered and clothed to drive me to school.

I can tell you Mom didn't know anything about these little visits, otherwise her attitude towards "Jackson" as she knew him would have gone from politely warm to frosty cold instantly. Oh she adored him, with his well-groomed appearance and his politeness to her. His tattoos clearly made her leery, but I guess she was like "they could be worse."

My friends were surprised (to say the least) when we started having lunch together, when he started walking me to and from my classes, insisting on carrying my school bag. Oh the questions they asked that I did my best to dance around.

* * *

I got a new best friend from my "relationship" with Kaldur, I can tell you that. Megan Morse (that is, M'gann M'orzz. She was half-witch half-vampire like Kaldur) took to me like ants to sugar. Maybe that's a mean analogy. M'gann was sweet as could be. And she obviously liked me. She was just so... **affectionate**.

The day after Kaldur and I... talked, she took me to her house immediately after school. And then we talked.

She answered every question I had, even some of the ones I knew were just stupid to ask but I did anyway. Like other vampires or witches or shape shifters in Gotham (Conner Kent and his father Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, the adoptive father of Dick Grayson, who was a shape shifter, were all vampires. Bruce's wife Selena was a shape shifter as well.)

What kind of powers they all had (vampires, the usual. Super speed, super strength. And a few I didn't expect. Like telepathy, for example. M'gann told me that neither she nor Kaldur or Connor could read my mind. Witches, the usual, though M'gann could see the future, which was supposed to be a rare gift. Shape shifters... please tell me I don't have to explain that one.)

She had one brother, eight year old Garfield, and four sisters, Lissa (L'zza), Amelia (Ame'lia) and Halinor. Ages thirteen, six, and four.

They were all almost exactly like her. Or, better said, their vampire mother, Marie. Straight red hair, light skin and freckles. The greatest differences were their eye colors, varying between a light, hazely brown like M'gann's and Ame'lia, to blue, like Halinor's, L'zza's and Marie's. Garfield was the only one who had bright green eyes.

Marie, a beautiful woman in her thirties, had stopped aging shortly after L'zza's birth. None of her children had chosen to stop aging yet.

All the while she and her sisters braided tough purple string that had a charm with a triple moon on it mixed with a herb she called thyme down the length of a thick lock of my hair. They told me it would protect me, help me sleep by warding off my nightmares. I didn't buy it but, hey, I was no witch.

All I know was that five showers later the string was still there.

Garfield and his sisters, Halinor especially, adored me. Although I think Halinor liked my hair more than anything. She would climb up next to me and run her little hands through it, gently brush it with her little child's hairbrush, holding strands up to light to see the silver in it.

Even now I couldn't tell you why. My experience with children before then had been extremely limited. I was the youngest in my family. And maybe I held my foster sibling when they cried at night. Made sure they ate something. But I was never the nurturing type, like M'gann obviously was.

It was the first time I'd ever really been jealous of anyone.

Conner Kent seemed to like me. He was perfectly polite anyway. He wasn't warm and cuddly like M'gann, but it wasn't like he was flashing fangs at me every minute. More like he wasn't really sure what to make of me, but he liked Kaldur and M'gann too much to really do anything about it.

* * *

"I would like to take you to my home Saturday." Kaldur said it so nonchalantly. I almost didn't believe him at first. I turned from my computer to look at him, stretched out on my bed like Caesar. I smirked "Seriously?" He nodded. "Seriously." That took my smirk away. "What if they don't like me?"

He smirked his own smirk then. "So, your greatest fear is, not that you would be in a house full of vampires, but instead that they would not like you?" Little chuckle then. If I hadn't been so panicked inside I probably would have laughed with him.

That's how M'gann found herself at my house Friday night, picking through my second-hand wardrobe to find me something decent to wear. That's how I found myself wearing a grey bolero with a black, sweetheart neckline dress. Thick grey tights to ward off the constant chill, flat-heeled ankle boots, minimal makeup and a ponytail finished my look.

I looked like I was going to a job interview at a law-firm. Kaldur picked me up from my house promptly at nine o'clock. We drove the main upper-middle class neighborhood Gotham had. You know the type. They can't afford a full house-staff, but they can afford to pay a guy in his twenties that the lady of the house is sure to try to sleep with.

We stopped in front of a white, three-story colonial. Another car in the driveway said it was not empty. Kaldur got out and walked to my side, holding the door open with one hand and reaching out to me with the other. Noticing my hesitance, he asked "Are you ready?"

I grabbed his hand and stepped out. "No. Let's go in any way."

* * *

_**See Artemis' look on my profile.**_

_**Bad storms in my area has made the internet connection terrible. So if I haven't updated a story in two weeks, I haven't died.**_

_**Review me!**_


	12. Welcome to The Family

They had a foyer. I don't know why I was surprised.

Some (most) of the foster homes I had could have easily fit in that whole first floor. And it was something out of a decorating magazine. A high-class, decorating magazine at that. There was the usual stuff. TV (a very nice TV), stereo system (with features like surround sound and low-frequency effects), and bookshelves filled with classics like Pride and Prejudice and 20,000 Leagues Under the sea, and whose well-worn covers and cracked spines said they were for more than just show.

The paintings on the walls I recognized as scenes from Greek history and mythology, as I did the waist-high vases in niches in the walls. Furniture and wallpaper in pale, muted colors, comforting and pleasing to the eye. Vases full of flowers in bright brilliant colors and bloom permeated the air with their scent.

Obviously his mother had been given free-rein when it came to decorating.

The second floor had three rooms, one a bedroom, that I saw anyway. The door was wide open. It was more of what was downstairs, and it was clearly for a couple. Kaldur pulled me to a stop outside of the one door that was closed. I could hear soft voices on the either side, though I couldn't say for sure what they were talking about. When Kaldur knocked on the door they stopped altogether, until a man's deep voice said "Come in.".

All of a sudden I was rooted in place. This had never happened to me before. Was it fear? Maybe, a little bit. But definitely not fear for my life. Kaldur put his arm around my shoulders, leaving me no choice but to move forward with him when he opened the door and walked into the room.

That room had a man's touch, no question about it. Heavy, dark wooden furniture. African tribal style masks hung from the wall behind a large walnut desk. More bookshelves full of the classics.

The pictures on the desk were old. And I don't mean old as in they had been taken when Kaldur was a kid, which they were though. Both were black and white portraits, one depicting Sha'lain'a (I recognized her from the hospital) holding Kaldur, who had to be about three years old. The other was a family portrait, Kaldur about sixteen in that one. All the pictures occupants were wearing clothes from the 1910's.

The only artwork I noticed was a watercolor on the wall opposite the desk. Clearly Sha'lain'a's influence.

Sha'lain'a had deeply tanned skin, white-blonde hair with honey brown eyes. She wore a fantastic bright green wrap dress with a deep purple floral print, and gold jewelry. She stood behind the African-American man who was basically Kaldur if he was thirty and not blonde sitting at the desk. The woman moved from behind the desk to stand in front of us, taking my hands in hers and smiling at me. "Artemis! Welcome. Kaldur'ahm has spoken of nothing but you."

Though the man didn't move, he smiled also. Sha'lain'a kissed my cheek. "Oh! You do smell lovely." The man's smile became a little more forced then, as did Kaldur's.

I just smiled. Manically.

* * *

_**If you've noticed the change to the chapter titles, I had a sudden surge of boldness and decided to get creative and name them from songs I know & enjoy. Bear with me please those of you insane enough to follow me. **_

_**If you can name the song, without Google, you get... ok well nothing, but you'll encourage me to update faster. The song itself probably doesn't fit, for the record, but a verse from the lyrics did.**_


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